The art and writing are a fluid continuation of the first issue, with the larger story gathering steam. It’s all very gradual, decent storytelling. We might not know where we are going just yet, but I was happy to stay focused on the family dynamic that is the heart of this book and really cement some ideas there. I want to note that while issue #1 showed us some of the graphic/horror imagery that Travel Foreman can do (with creatures akin to something from John Carpenter’s The Thing), issue #2 shows us that his surrealistic art will really get a chance to get even weirder as we go into the Red, with body parts contorting and skewing all over the place.

I like whoever or whatever the three Lovecraftian creatures (who have now assumed human bodies) are, and they seem ready to do some damage. There are some parallel’s I have noticed between Animal Man and Swamp Thing regarding threats to the source of the hero’s powers (the Red and the Green respectively) by some dark force, which I hope is no coincidence. The seemingly inevitable crossover would be fun to see for sure.

Animal Man #2 proves that this title is one of the highlights of the New 52. I don’t know how anyone could argue otherwise. My expectations are set to be high now, so I am hopeful this one can keep going as strong as these two issues have been.

Rating: 9/10

Buddy Baker (aka Animal Man) starts in a familiar setting, and one which really makes this character shine – at home with his family. What other superhero has a family they come home to? It’s such an interesting dynamic and really helps me get attached to Buddy, who is pretty much a regular dude trying to figure it all out. We enter his life as he is in the midst of deciding how much he wants to be a superhero, an actor, a stunt man, an activist, a family man. Perhaps the most intriguing thing about Animal Man is that it is basically an 80′s archetypal character, but now much more rooted in a horror landscape, with a very creepy and surreal exposure to “The Red”, which is somehow tied to Animal Man’s power.

Travel Foreman’s art is refreshingly stark, with solid and bold colors, clean inks, and some interesting use of white space/panel design, and his art is one of this title’s strongest assets. There is movement and life in his artwork which really belongs in a darker storyline that Animal Man is obviously becoming (see below for said “movement” in his art).

Jeff Lemire’s writing is pretty good, pretty snappy, very well-paced, and although I’ve never heard of Lemire before, he seems quite capable. Lemire really does a good job of showing us what a nuclear family with a father who is a superhero would be like. Most superheroes live a pretty solitary life, but Buddy is a genuinely nice guy who loves his family and wants what is best for them, which will undoubtedly get him into trouble down the line (as it has before).

Animal Man has always skirted on the side of an ironic superhero, highlighted by Morrison’s run with the character where he is by all accounts a fairly cheesy/lame character (he has the power of any animal), but just by making his powers a little more savvy and juxtaposing such a bright character with the dark, ominous overtones of this latest incarnation, I can’t help but enjoy this one, and look forward to the next month’s issue.

Rating: 9/10

A while back, it was brought to my attention by friend Keith that DC was relaunching 52 of their titles. What would be called “The New 52″ immediately made me curious? What? How? Why? Marvel had kind of done this with their Ultimate line years ago, and now DC was trying to shake it up. Kudos.

I hadn’t been reading comics with any devotion for quite a while. I was always a Marvel guy, mainly stemming from their strong influence on me through the 80′s and 90′s growing up. I like to think I am still a Marvel guy at heart, but the endless event titles and crossovers really got to me after a while, and so I had to stop reading comics…until now.

The new 52 did exactly what DC hoped it would in my case – suckered me into buying a couple of their books. Of the 52, I still had to laugh at a lot of them (Hawk and Dove? OMAC? Voodoo? Who are these people?), and mind you this is all alien territory for me at this point.  I’m used to my stories by Ed Brubaker and Brian Michael Bendis; who is thisGeoff Johns and what does he want from me? But I had enough nerd in me to know which character was which and what their powers are, so I figured, why not?

Now there will always, always be characters in DC that I simply cannot get into (sorry Supes), but here was my chance to start fresh, right? And so I committed the ultimate sin. I downloaded the entire first issues of the new 52. I know, I know, I am ashamed and that will be something I carry with me for the rest of my life (natch), but as someone who has been burned by comics before, and as I am treading in foreign waters with just a paddle, I feel okay about it. After quickly skimming through the titles that I knew I would never like (a lot of them really), there were a few that really stood out to me, and I was at the comic shop the next day to go down a very familiar road yet again.

In my personal opinion, the most interesting titles of the new 52 are Animal Man, Aquaman, Batman, DC Universe Presents: Deadman, Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE, Justice League Dark, Suicide Squad, and Swamp Thing. There are some other titles which I still felt were pretty good and I may yet subscribe to (i.e. The Flash, Green Lantern, Supergirl, Green Lantern Corps) but I’m still taking baby steps here, and the ones that I really enjoyed grabbed my attention much more.

So here I am world, a newborn DC guy. I am anxious to see how this continues, but rest assured, I’ll be offering up some reviews as I go along. Who knows, I may find myself giving Marvel another chance (they still have so many of my favorite artists!) but until then, looks like I have at least 8 titles to look forward to every month.

Welcome to my nightmare.

Iron Man – Robert Downey Jr.  

It’s pretty much a given that no one else could play Stark as RDJ already has.  Stark is Downey Jr.  ’Nuff said.

Captain America – Daniel Craig

This is a tough one.  A Brit playing the icon of America?  Craig has already proven himself as a Bond for the ages, why stop there?  True, he turned down the role of Thor when asked by Branaugh for that film, but in a perfect world, he would absolutely rule the roost as Cap. 

Bruce Banner – Jeremy Davies

Perhaps the tiniest blip on the radar in terms of “star-power” here (although his popularity on LOST is on the rise), it makes perfect sense then that Davies take on Banner, the unsung hero and alter-ego of the Hulk.  Davies is small, skinny, but also possesses a tortured and hidden dark side that I don’t feel has really been expressed in the past two Hulk movies, at least very well.  

The Hulk – Javier Bardem

Not trying to say Bardem is ugly or brutish in any way, but the main thing that the Hulk has missed the last few films is he is computer generated.  I’m not saying we paint Bardem green and give him a puffy wig, but motion capturing Bardem into a CGI Hulk (a la Crudup as Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen) would give him the human identity he’s been missing.

Thor – Karl Urban

It was a unanimous decision.  Yes, poor Urban has already seen his share of warrior roles (LOTR, Pathfinder) but he’s been in those roles for a reason.  He’s tall, handsome, and would carry the role of a thunder god with ease.

The Wasp – Rachel McAdams

Not only does her youth inject a much needed life to the team, but the Wasp has always been a pretty face. McAdams would be great here as someone who could build on the rather weak character and make it her own.  

Giant-Man/Goliath/Yellowjacket – Guy Pearce

Guy Pearce was made for a superhero role.  The guy was a bodybuilder once after all, and he has a kind of edginess to him that would work very well with a character haunted by the insecurities in his life.  He would breathe life into this otherwise blase character.

Black Panther – Djimon Honsou

In the shortness of African actors who are both strong and have some acting cred here in America, Honsou is one of the only choices for the Black Panther.  He’s got a ferocity to him that would lend well to the Avengers “loose cannon” member.

Nick Fury – Samuel Jackson, George Clooney

Well they’ve already said Jackson will be Fury in the movie (though there are rumblings of trouble here), but I would like them to go a step higher and throw Clooney in the mix as well.  Clooney of course matches the traditional Fury, but you throw in some spy related talk about how Fury always has to change his appearance to stay hidden, and it works perfectly. 

Vision – Paul Bettany

True, Bettany was already the voice of Jarvis in Iron Man, but then wouldn’t it also make sense for him to be the Avengers cybernetic hero the Vision?  He’s slender, sharp, and can play cold while still being empathetic.  

While the paycheck to assemble such a team would be huge to say the least, such a team would also be one of the most amazing line-ups ever brought to life.  Think about it…

Invincible #56 – Invincible is one of those titles that I really didn’t think I would enjoy as much as I have been, but lately, the goings-on has been kinda boring.  There is way too much lull in the events that are taking place.  I think Kirkman must be setting up a lot of pieces to the bigger picture, but still, a lot of what happened in this ish seemed to be pretty negligible.  

100 Bullets #98 – 2 more issues to go, and I am just as confused as what is going on here.  Again, it’s a problem to read this title month to month because it really should all be read in one sitting.  I’m looking forward to when this series ends, just so I can read #1-#100 and hopefully feel good about it.  I have faith it will all work out in the end, but I’m wary of, again, so much stuff going on.  

Dark Reign #1 - Bendis and Maleev (Daredevil) team-up again for this Secret Invasion fall-out issue.  It’s interesting to see what could be brewing here, but I am having trouble really seeing too much of a threat from this alleged “Dark Reign”.  Namor and Emma Frost are both historically troubled, but not villains (and I was a bit miffed to see Namor essentially dumbed down to a thug in the issue).  The threat here seemed only to be Harry Osborn trying to pull a Lex Luthor and control the world.  It’s just kinda…silly.  I’m losing my faith in Bendis, as hard as that is for me to say.  But I am hopeful that he and Marvel handle this delicate situation well, because my future as a reader may just depend on it.

The Walking Dead #55 – This series needs to come to an end quick.  It seems like it might be leading up to that, but I am tired of fake psychosis and nothing really happening.  I can’t keep track of who’s coming and going anymore, and frankly, all of the characters save the boy are forgettable at best.

So who or what will be in the next one? In the world of Batman that Christopher Nolan has created, we are rooted more in realism/plausibility than fantasy. It would seem that the more eccentric Bat-villains, like Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, or even Penguin wouldn’t really work here (at least not in their truest form) and should be thrown to the wayside.  I think it was a great idea to show the Joker in TDK, because it completely deviated from ideas people already had, and gave us something new and exciting.  Even the newest incarnation of Two-Face was welcome, as the strange taste of Tommy Lee Jones’ version was washed away.

But still, we should hope that the next one (assuming there will be a next one) will look at those characters we haven’t yet seen on the silver screen, and make them just as cool and interesting as those in TDK.

Killer Croc – I think they could and should try him. He’d be great as both a throw-away character or another major player in the next film. I honestly thought that Thomas ‘Tiny’ Lister was Croc in The Dark Knight, he had the perfect look and tone down (until he showed his true, somewhat heroic colors). File those teeth down to points, throw some sort skin disease/deformity on him, and you have Killer Croc.

Mr. Zsasz – Very easy to do as he is basically just a serial killer who marks his body count on his flesh. Anyone could play him, he doesn’t have any sort of fantastic element to him, and he would be perfectly functional in the Nolan world.

Clayface – They could do it, just tone down the “I am a morphing blob of clay” to “I am a prosthetics and make-up genius” and it would totally work. Make him a little smarter than he was in the comics and he would be a great lead villain, because after all, what’s better than a criminal you can never identify?

Mad Hatter – Totally not going to work, complete silliness here. As you can’t take him seriously, he would be a great throw-away character, maybe just guest starring as a nod to the comics, with all of the other prisoners laughing at his ridiculous nature after his arrest (?).

Catwoman – There’s a lot of speculation that Catwoman will show up soon (there’s a brief, brief hint at Batman’s armor holding up against “cats” in TDK) but it’s been done before…twice. Sure they could probably whip up a cool little storyline for her, but there’s so much room for Batman to develop more before she shows up, I’d hate to see him get tangled up in a love story of any kind just yet. I’d hope Nolan would to play a little tougher than that.

Robin – I actually do think this would work at some point, though obviously not in the same capacity as the comics. They could even just skip and go right to Nightwing, or follow the Miller idea of having a female Robin (Ellen Page?). Again, it’s way too early in the Batman mythos to introduce a “new element” of a kid who Batman takes under his wing. Batman needs to be a loner for as long as possible before we even think about giving him a sidekick, especially after his losses in Dark Knight.

Hush – I wasn’t a huge fan of the comic storyarc (it got a little too shaky for me), but taking the concept of this manipulative villain and applying it to the Nolan universe would be pretty easy and acceptable. My only qualms would be yet another movie based on a Jeph Loeb story, which is pretty limiting given Batman’s entire history.  

All in all, I’d really enjoy a double-fisted villain attack in the next one (Clayface the brains, Killer Croc the brawn) but really, they could completely continue with the ganglords and thugs approach that has worked well enough the last two films. But a brawl between Croc and Bats would whet the palettes of many fanboys out there, so I would expect something more than just knives and guns next time.  We have to remember this is a comic movie, and no matter how far Nolan has succeeded in making his Batman universe as close to our own, anything can still happen there.  And that’s just what we want to see.

Dave Stevens died on Monday from leukemia.  He is best known for creating The Rocketeer and for his skills as an artist, often noted for his pin-up girl illustrations.  He was 52.  The Rocketeer was one of those characters that not only appealed to me visually, but conceptually it was so intriguing to have a character based on the mythos of pulp heroes like The Shadow and The Phantom, but created today.  At the time, no one was really paying those pulp heroes much mind, and certainly The Rocketeer showed that they could be cool and be relevant to some degree.  For me, Dave Stevens helped bridge a generational gap; from my interest in The Rocketeer, I could go back and look at Doc Savage and The Spirit with a better understanding.  And of course, The Rocketeer film was one of my favorites growing up.  At any rate, hopefully his creations and ideas don’t die with him.  Carry the torch!

Marvel Zombies 2 #2 - Well, the story hasn’t really gotten me quit intrigued yet. I will give it another shot because the first zombie run was so fun, but honestly, this title might have been better left dead. A critical flaw in a lot of these “novel” ideas is overkill, and i can only hope that we can avoid that here. Tread carefully, Marvel, very carefully.  

The Sub-Mariner #6 - Yeesh, what a disappointment. The Sub-Mariner is easily one of (if not) my favorite Marvel character. He’s got history, he’s got charisma, and he is very unique. In this mini-series however, we are given a character that is both flat and linear, he strays too far from his recognizable self and becomes “something else.” My biggest grudge was the inclusion of a before unmentioned son, whom ultimately (WARNING SPOILER) he kills in an all too cowardly fashion (for Namor) to almost no real purpose. It was a dues ex machina, and most unwelcome. Please Marvel, do not this character become what he is turning into.

100 Bullets #86 - 100 Bullets really does need to be read all in one sitting, it’s so dense that the monthly break between stories/characters/plotlines really kills the momentum and pacing. I did enjoy learning more about Victor, who is probably my favorite of the Minutemen right now. This was a single shot issue, so don’t be too afraid to miss it, but something tells me it will be more important very soon. 14 issues to go! 

The Walking Dead #44 - Kirkman continues to crank ‘em out. The Walking Dead is in the midst of one of the heavier storylines right now, with an attack on the prison our survivors have learned to call home. I see disaster looming, but you never know. One thing is for sure, blood will be spilt, and in buckets. I am secretly hoping this title ends soon, because it really is starting to become evident that you can’t go too much longer with these people, but I think Kirkman understands what he is doing, so for now, I do trust him. For now…

Invincible #46 - Kirkman is becoming the Brian Michael Bendis of Image (hell, even Marvel). Invincible takes a bit of a break while pieces come into play for the next assuredly intense storyline, but still entertains and maintains the freshness that it has always had. I cannot understand why this title has not gotten more acclaim, but maybe I like it that way too.    

Thor #4
I have never been to strong a supporter of Thor, it always kind of felt like Marvel was cheating by introducing a character with historical resonance, but alas, here we are. Last months issue was awesome, if you don’t know why, pick it up ASAP. This month, the issue got a little too preachy for my tastes, by throwing Thor in the middle of an African tribal dispute. “Really? Amidst all the stuff that was moving forward with him, you send him to Africa?” It was a little too much of a “real world” scenario in a comic book, which I never really care for (article coming soon on that topic!). Beautiful art by Coipel though, whose work I always look forward to seeing.

World War Hulk #5
Exactly what I feared would happen when Pak was given the duty to write such a large, expansive story? Dissapointment. The entire run had some moments of note, basically anytime the Hulk delivered an ass-whupping to almost every hero in the Marvel Universe, but where we should have found some sort of definitive end/insight into the Hulk as a character, the whole ending just sort of threw up all over the 48 pages of confusion and grandiose action. I have no idea what just happened. Okay, so who’s dead? Who’s alive? Is New York a steaming pile of rubble? Can the Hulk glow now? Is he red now? Perhaps another read is needed, but it just seemed like had they given this writing task to another person (Millar?) we would have seen a bit more cohesion and an ending without a deus ex machina (yep, there’s one of those). Overall, all I can say “Meh.”

All Star Superman #9
For all the lack of interest I give DC, All Star Superman is surely their best title. Why? It’s essentially an Ultimates version of Superman, the entire mythos restructured by Grant Morrison, whose work is often hit or miss, but here plays well with the world-famous character. It’s more of the same, sure, but ASS (wow, that’s an unfortunate acronym) is always fun. Great art from Frank Quitely too.